


gathered near to us

by Seascribe



Category: due South
Genre: Cooking, DSSS Treat, F/M, Florida, M/M, bowling, holiday fic, post-cotw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-28
Updated: 2013-12-28
Packaged: 2018-01-06 12:41:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1106937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seascribe/pseuds/Seascribe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stella and Ray Vecchio invite Fraser and Ray Kowalski to spend Christmas with them in Florida.</p>
            </blockquote>





	gathered near to us

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Heather](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heather/gifts).



> For Heather's request, "I would love to see Fraser, Stella, and the Rays get together for a nice dinner (maybe even for Christmas?), and just have some silly fun times, now that everybody's working on happily ever after," as thanks for all the great things she's brought to my fannish experience this year.
> 
> Thanks to Scribe for looking it over.

"I was thinking," Stella said, slipping off her pumps as they came into the house. Ray reached over to turn the lamp on and slide her blazer off her shoulders. 

"About getting new counters put in down at the bowling alley?" he asked with a grin. 

"That's your job," Stella said. "No, I was wondering what you'd think about inviting Ray and Fraser to visit for a few days, around Christmas maybe." She'd expected him to do a double-take or maybe protest about her wanting to invite her ex to visit during their first Christmas together, but he just blinked, like he was making sure he'd heard her right. 

"Sounds good to me," he said. "As long as you're okay with it." 

"You don't have a problem with Ray coming?" Stella asked. 

"Not if you wanna invite them," Ray said. "It'd be real good to see Fraser again, and it looks like the two of them come in a matched set these days." 

Stella looked at him doubtfully. 

"Hey, he's been good to Benny," Ray said with a shrug. "I got nothing to fight with him about now. Go ahead and call them up." 

*

It wasn't until Fraser and Ray staggered off the plane, pale and rumpled after 36 hours of travel, that Stella really started worrying that she's made a colossal mistake. She and Fraser had never gotten along, and being friends with Ray over the phone wasn't the same thing at all as being friends with him in person. What if things were awkward? And what if Ray was wrong and he and her first Ray did still have things to fight about? What if--

But then they were right there, face to face, and Ray was squeezing her elbow encouragingly before stepping away to hug Fraser, asking how the flight was, whether or not they'd brought the wolf, if Fraser'd remembered to pack his swim trunks. Beside them, Ray gave her an uncertain look, and before she could think about it, Stella had stepped forward and hugged him tight, burying her face in his shoulder. 

"It's good to see you, Ray," she said.

"You too, Stell." He patted her back, a little awkwardly. "Thanks for inviting us." 

"Figured you could use a little sunshine," Ray--her current Ray--said, turning the grin he'd been directing at Fraser on them. "How long's it been dark up there?" 

"Our last sunrise was on December 6th," Fraser said. 

Ray shuddered. "I don't know how you live like that," he said. Ray bristled a little, but Ray--her second Ray--was still smiling. "Don't worry, we'll take care of that vitamin D deficiency before you go back."

"Make sure you're wearing sunglasses, or Fraser will blind you when he puts his swim trunks on," Ray said. He smirked at Fraser, who made an affronted face back at him. 

"It's okay, Benny," Ray said, patting his shoulder. "We got an entire bottle of SPF 60 at the house with your name on it." 

Fraser rolled his eyes, and the two Rays grinned at each other. Maybe, Stella thought, this was turning out to be a pretty good idea after all.

*  
Stella woke up early on Christmas morning, planning to surprise Ray--both of them--with _naleśniki_. Mrs Kowalski had taught her how to make them when she and Ray got married, and they were one of the few things Stella could cook with any confidence. They'd always been Ray's favourite. And Ray did most of the cooking these days. He was going to make cannelloni and veal for Christmas dinner, so Stella figured she could handle breakfast. 

Downstairs, the kitchen light was already on, and she found Fraser squinting at the coffee machine, bacon and eggs laid out on the counter, Ray's Calphalon skillet heating up on the burner. He jumped a little when she came up behind him and pushed the brew button. 

"Good morning," Fraser said. "Merry Christmas." He adjusted the heat on the burner and started laying strips of bacon out in the pan.

"Merry Christmas," Stella said, pulling coffee mugs down from the cabinet. "I thought for sure I'd be the first one up." She stifled a yawn.

"We're a couple hours behind you, in the Territories," Fraser said. "And I've never been much good at sleeping in." 

"I bet that drives Ray nuts," Stella said. 

Fraser gave her a cautious smile. "I believe he's become accustomed to it. It probably helps that I've learned to start a pot of coffee immediately upon waking." 

"That sounds about right." She pulled out a mixing bowl and began dumping in the ingredients for her _naleśniki_. "Thanks for getting breakfast started." 

"My pleasure," said Fraser. "Should I get out of your way?" 

"Nah," Stella said. "I always burn the bacon and the eggs stick." 

"Ah," said Fraser. He eyed the _naleśniki_ batter warily. "If you'd like, I can make my grandmother's biscuits." 

Stella pretended to glare at him. "I've been making _naleśniki_ for twenty years, I promise they'll be edible. Ray used to love them." 

Fraser's expression softened, and if Stella'd had any doubts that he really was in love with Ray, that would have dispelled them. 

"I can teach you how to make them," she offered, and was a little taken aback by the brightness of the smile that spread across his face. 

"I'd like that," Fraser said. "Thank you." 

"No problem," Stella said. "I'll show you how to make the filling too. Ray always liked the apple best." 

She was just flipping over the last of the pancakes when Ray--her second Ray--shuffled in, coming over to kiss her cheek. 

"Hey, I didn't know you could cook," he teased, and Stella elbowed him in the ribs. 

"Because you never give me a chance," she retorted. 

"After the meatloaf incident, who could blame me?" he said. 

"It wasn't _that_ bad," Stella said. 

Ray shuddered theatrically, and she could tell he was making a face at Fraser behind her. 

Fraser coughed, trying to hide a smile. "I'm sure the _naleśniki_ will be delicious," he said. "I should go wake Ray up before they get cold. " 

After he left, Ray wrapped his arms around Stella's waist and kissed her again. 

"I was thinking we could go down to the bowling alley later, open it up for just the four us," he said. "Me and Fraser against you and Kowalski, what do you say?" 

Stella leaned back against him and then pulled away to start filling the _naleśniki_. "Sounds great," she said. "I hope you and Fraser are ready for us to wipe the floor with you." 

Ray snorted. "You haven't seen Fraser in action--he's good at everything. You're on." 

*

"Fraser, one more shot like that, and I'm putting out the kiddie bumpers for you," Ray said, shaking his head mournfully. "How are you this bad at bowling?" 

"There is a remarkable shortage of bowling alleys north of the Arctic Circle, Ray," Fraser said. "If you'd like, perhaps Ray and I could show you some of the traditional games that are played in Inuvik." 

"Yeah, we could do a blanket toss," Ray said, giving Ray a challenging grin. 

"I'll pass," Ray said. "Come on, you two, hurry up and put us out of our misery." 

He and Fraser straggled their way into the triple digits on Ray's last frame, and Stella closed the game out with a strike. 

"Looks like we beat your high score, Vecchio," Ray said, nodding at the billboard over the lanes. "You gonna put us on your wall of fame?" 

"Paying customers only," Ray said, probably because he didn't feel like dragging out the ladder and fiddling with the plastic letters. "But if you want, I'll fire up the concession stand and make you a couple celebratory slurpies." 

It took a few minutes for the machine to get going, and then Ray presented them both with large blue raspberry flavoured slurpies. 

"You want a consolation prize, Benny?" Ray asked, making himself a cherry slurpie. 

"Coca-Cola flavoured, please," Fraser said with a grin. 

The bowling alley was only about a five minute drive from the beach, so Ray sighed and made an exception to his rule about food and drinks in the Riviera, parking down near one of the lookout points on the headland. There were a few other people on the beach, tourists probably, but they mostly had the place to themselves, bright sunshine and warm sand and the waves crashing in like something off a postcard. 

Stella finished the last of her raspberry slurpie and leaned against Ray's side, tilting her head up for a cold, cherry-flavoured kiss. A few feet away, Ray reached out and grabbed Fraser's hand, looking over his shoulder to grin at her. 

"You did good, Stella," Ray said, pressing another cold kiss against her temple. 

"Yeah," Stella agreed. "I did."


End file.
